


Grounded

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Christmas fic, Power Outage, SO MUCH FLUFF, blizzard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-11-01 22:09:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Sooort of based on the prompt: "Character A can’t travel to see their family on Christmas, so they invite their grumpy loner neighbor Character B"





	Grounded

“All flights cancelled.” Your heart leapt to your throat while you refreshed the page, as if in the second it took to reload the blizzard outside would have dissipated and the skies would be clear enough to fly. “All flights cancelled.”

You threw your phone onto the bed before flopping face-first down next to it and letting out a muffled scream. You could practically hear your mother’s voice in your head telling you not to book a last minute flight. The phone buzzed beside you and you groaned, rolling over to look at the caller ID. The Mothership. Even when she was a thousand miles away she could read your mind.

Deciding it was in your best interest, you ignored the call, grabbing your packed back and car keys instead. If you couldn’t fly to see your parents, you’d just have to drive, weather be damned. You pulled a beanie down over your ears with grim determination, ready to face your fate.

No sooner had you turned the door handle than the door swung open. Cold air rushed in and it seemed like the more you squinted the more snow appeared outside. “Yeah fuck this,” you muttered to yourself, forcing the door closed. You slid down it in defeat, still covered head-to-toe in winter gear as you rummaged through your pockets for your phone. The screen lit up with another call from your mother. This time you answered.

“Hey Ma.” You could hardly hear her over the roar of your nieces and nephews in the background. “Yeah, about that. There’s a blizzard here and-. No, no a BLIZZARD not a lizard. Yes, yeah all the flights are cancelled. I’m not gonna make-” A loud crash on the background cut you off. The phone was dead silent for all of one second before your mother started screaming about her heirloom plates. You figured this would be a good time to hang up and count your blessings. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad spending Christmas alone.

As soon as the thought crossed your mind, the power in your house went out, plunging you into darkness. You let your head fall back against the door with a groan. The cold set in almost immediately, and soon, even your layers of winter coats weren’t enough to keep you warm.

You stood up carefully, feeling your way around the kitchen, almost tripping over your own suitcases. You barely managed to catch yourself on the kitchen table before muttering a string of curses. “Phone. Flashlight.” You pulled the phone out of your pocket, but the slick screen slipped through your gloved fingers and the phone went skidding across the floor. You took a moment to compose yourself, staring blankly into the distance.

That’s when you noticed your neighbor’s light on. You could barely make out his silhouette pacing back and forth in his kitchen. His well-lit, well heated kitchen.

You decided finding your phone could wait and made your way back to the door, careful to avoid your stack of luggage. Adjusting your coat and pulling your scarf tight, you braced yourself against the cold as you raced to lock your door and bolt to your neighbor’s stoop. You knocked frantically, unsure if he could actually hear you over the howling wind. Thankfully, your luck seemed to be changing as he pulled his front door open.

He stared at you with an open mouth, one hand cradling his phone to his ear, the other on the door handle. Several seconds passed before his brain kicked in again and he motioned for you to come inside. You stood awkwardly in his foyer, the snow on your clothes already beginning to melt.

“I know, baby. I know. Daddy’s so sorry he can’t be there for Christmas, but I promise it’ll be an extra special New Year’s. I love you, too. Sweet dreams, pumpkin.” Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose after hanging up the phone. You thought for a second you saw tears in his eyes, but maybe it was just some stray snow.

“So…” you began, realizing crashing your neighbor’s house might not have been the best idea. Especially when you’ve had all of two conversations.

“You just ran through a blizzard.” Leonard said with the dead-pan of a man who’d seen more than his share of stupid things.

“Yeah, I mean it was like ten feet.”

“In a damn blizzard. What could be so important?”

You dropped your gaze. Definitely not a great idea. “My heat’s out,” you muttered. “And I saw you still have power so I thought I’d ask if I could hang out here until my power comes back on. If that’s…you know. If that’s cool with you.” You bit your bottom lip and begged yourself to calm down, hoping Leonard didn’t think you were too much of a spaz.

He sighed, infamous scowl still set on his face. “Probably won’t be back on until morning.” Leonard walked towards the kitchen, setting his phone on the table.

“Oh, well…I can just go back then.”

Leonard scoffed. “Don’t be an idiot. And take off that damn jacket before you burn up.”

You shifted the jacket off awkwardly, looking around for a hook to put it. Finding none, you added it to what seemed to be a pile of jackets by the front door, stacking what felt like ten full pounds of winter gear on top.

“Do you like hot cocoa,” Leonard called from the kitchen.

“Tch, is my heart beating,” you asked sarcastically, leaning in the doorway.

Leonard set two mugs on the counter as he walked over to you. “Let me check,” he said, taking your hand and pressing two fingers to your wrist. His brow furrowed in faux concern. “Nope. Dead as a doornail. Sorry, sugar.” He let your wrist go with a wink. “So, you want some cocoa?”

You rolled your eyes, wrist still tingling where Leonard touched you. “Yes, please, sir.” Your focus shifted to the kitchen decor, causing you to miss the way Leonard’s hands tightened around the mugs.

He handed you one along with a dazzling smile. “If the cocoa doesn’t warm you up, the Irish Cream should.”

You took one sip and moaned, making Leonard damn near choke on his own cocoa. “Ugh, a man after my heart. I didn’t know hot chocolate could taste this good.”

“McCoy family recipe.”

“Then I think it’s time for me to become a McCoy,” you said before your brain caught up to you. When it finally did, the tips of your ears flushed bright pink.

“Mm,” Leonard started, taking another sip of cocoa. “I think it’s normally drinks, dinner, then marriage, right? So how about we get dinner first?”

At that moment, you really must have been a sight: hair ruffled and unkempt from the beanie, cheeks getting redder by the second, jaw hanging open, eyes wide and clearly panicking as you begged your brain to come up with a coherent thought while it banged pots and pans together instead.

Luckily, you didn’t have to make a comeback because Leonard’s phone rang again. He looked at it then up to you apologetically. “Gotta take this, sweetheart. Make yourself at home.”

He stepped out of the room, and you took a moment to gather yourself. You’d hardly spoken to the guy and here he was joking about dinner and drinks? It’s not like he wasn’t attractive. His jawline had definitely haunted more than one of your dreams, and those delicious arms made summer yard work seem less like a chore. That didn’t change the fact that you’d been neighbors for two years and you knew jack shit about him.

Maybe now’s the time to find out, you thought, making your way into the living room. It was sparsely decorated. A few throw pillows on the couch and a blanket that looked homemade. The bookshelf, however, was packed full with books that were cluttered together in a way that made you think there must be some order to it, even if you didn’t know what it was.

On the mantle stood several plain black picture frames, each with a picture of Leonard and a young girl. You could remember him mentioning a daughter once, but you’d never seen her. She looked almost nothing like him, save for a mop of brown hair and a similar look of determination in her eyes. You wondered if she looked like her mother, but there weren’t any pictures to compare.

“Sorry about that,” Leonard said, walking back into the living room. You spun around too quickly, trying to act like you weren’t snooping. “Mom was worried about the storm.” He dropped himself onto the couch. “So. You want to watch a movie or are you gonna stand there staring all night?”

“I’m not…I’m not staring,” you laughed. “I’m…contemplating.”

“And what are you contemplating?” Leonard kept his voice level, but he had to fight back a smile.

“Whether or not freezing to death might actually be better than spending the night with you.” You crossed your arms, pretending to be upset as you sat down on the couch next to Leonard.

“I’m sure I can make it worth your while.” Leonard slipped an arm around your shoulder. If you had looked at him, you probably would’ve swooned at the look he was giving you. Sadly, you were staring at a particularly interesting spot on the carpet while you tried to keep your breathing even. “Now, what’s your favorite Christmas movie?”

“Jurassic Park,” you said without hesitation. Leonard barked a laugh before he could catch himself. “What? Got a problem with dinosaurs?”

“No, I’ve just never thought of Jurassic Park as a Christmas movie.”

“It is if you imagine all the dinosaurs are wearing little Christmas hats.” You didn’t miss the side eye Leonard sent you and rolled your eyes. “Okay, so I was really into dinosaurs as a kid and my sister and I would always watch the Jurassic Park series when we staying up on Christmas Eve. It’s sort of a tradition now.”

Leonard chuckled to himself, shaking his head slightly while he browsed through Netflix. He pressed play and put his arm around your shoulders again. This time, you took the invitation to curl up closer to him, resting your head against his shoulder. Between the movie in the background and the warmth from Leonard’s body, you didn’t even make it through the title sequence before you were fast asleep.

The first thing you noticed was this was definitely not your bed. You opened one eye, trying to get a grip on your surroundings, but nothing looked familiar. It smelled familiar. It smelled like

“Leonard,” you said, shooting up. You couldn’t remember how you’d gotten into his bedroom yet here you were. By the looks of it, the other side of the bed hadn’t been slept in, and you felt a pang of guilt. Then, the smell of pancakes drifted through the open door and the guilt was replaced with hunger.

You followed the smell into the kitchen to find Leonard hard at work over the stove, churning out Christmas-tree shaped pancakes. Despite your hunger, you hardly noticed the food, focused instead on something even more delicious: Leonard stood dressed in a pair of plaid lounge pants slung sinfully low, hair ruffled from from sleep. His thermal shirt clung tightly to his arms and, suddenly, you missed the feel of those arms around you.

“Hey,” Leonard said, finally noticing you in the doorway. “Don’t think I have to ask how you slept.” He flashed you a brilliant smile. “Hope you like pancakes.”

“I do, but I should probably get going before the next blizzard strikes.”

“Flights are still cancelled,” Leonard said. “I checked first thing this morning.” You swore under your breath, but Leonard only smiled harder. “That eager to be rid of me?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not. This,” you said, gesturing towards Leonard and the pancakes, “is is something I could get used to.”

“Do you want to?” Leonard dropped his gaze, unsure if he was more scared of rejection or the possibility that you might actually say yes.

“Do I want to what,” you asked.

Leonard put his spatula down, taking a step closer to you. “Get used to this,” he said. “With me.”

You fumbled for words before deciding that maybe they weren’t best right now. Instead, you took two steps forward, closing the distance between the two of you. One of Leonard’s arms snaked around your waist while the other went up your back, hand tangling in your hair. Everything about him felt perfect, and you couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across your face as you pulled away.

“You taste like vanilla.”

“It’s the pancakes,” Leonard said, pressing his lips to yours again.

“God I’ve wanted to do that since I walked in last night.”

“Really,” Leonard laughed sheepishly. “I’ve wanted to do that for five months.” You were about to respond, when you smelled something burning. Leonard must have smelled it too, because he wheeled around towards the stove. He scrambled to salvage what he could, muttering under his breath, and you felt your heart swell. Yeah, you could definitely get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
